Six Sentenced in Widespread Fentanyl Trafficking Case in WV Eastern Panhandle

Six individuals were sentenced this week in connection with a large-scale drug trafficking network that brought fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine into Berkeley and Jefferson Counties in West Virginia. The organization, which originated in Baltimore, Maryland, was responsible for widespread distribution of illegal substances in the Eastern Panhandle region.

Gary Brown, Jr., 39, of Baltimore, was identified as the leader of the operation. He received a sentence of 327 months in federal prison and was fined $1 million. Brown was initially indicted in January 2024 along with 81 others in what prosecutors described as a major dismantling of a regional drug supply chain. The case is part of an extensive federal crackdown on narcotics distribution under the Department of Justice’s Operation Take Back America initiative.

This week’s sentencings also included Linda Abshire, 33, of Martinsburg, sentenced to 46 months; Christopher Sterling Cogle, 42, of Harpers Ferry, sentenced to 96 months; Saul Percy Powell, Jr., 56, of Baltimore, sentenced to 180 months; Nathaniel Frederick Downing, Jr., 69, of Charles Town, sentenced to 18 months; and James Sanford, 40, of Martinsburg, sentenced to 60 months in prison.

To date, 80 of the 82 individuals charged in the case have been convicted, and 59 have been sentenced. One individual, 44-year-old Charles Delroy Singletary of Baltimore, remains a fugitive. The investigation, which included the efforts of over a dozen federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, is one of the largest of its kind in the region. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lara Omps-Botteicher and Kyle Kane and presided over by U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh.

Article by multiple RFHC contributors, based upon information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of West Virginia

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